What is the difference between a VPN and a proxy?
Proxy servers and VPNs both hide the real IP address, bypass geo-restrictions, but differ in terms of their operation, security, speed, and convenience.
Олександр Л.
30 March 2025
162
162
30 March 2025
Proxy servers and VPNs are two popular tools for improving online privacy and security. Both methods allow you to hide your real IP address, deceiving websites and services about your physical location, and also allow you to bypass geo-restrictions. However, there are several key differences between them in terms of how they work, security, speed, and usability.
Basic principle of operation
A proxy acts as a kind of intermediary between a particular device and the network. When you connect to the Internet through a proxy, your requests are first sent to this server, which then transmits them to the final resource. As a result, websites and online services do not see your real IP address, but the digital address of the proxy server. This provides a certain level of anonymity and allows you to bypass content blocking. However, proxies do not encrypt traffic, which means that all your activities can be intercepted if an attacker has access to the network between your device and the proxy server. A VPN creates a special encrypted tunnel between your device and the VPN server. All traffic passing through it is encrypted, which ensures a high level of security and maximum privacy. The VPN replaces your real IP address with the IP address of the VPN server, just like a proxy, but your traffic is protected from interception.
Features in terms of speed
In terms of speed, a proxy is often a faster option than a VPN because it doesn't encrypt traffic, allowing data to be transferred without additional delays during the encryption and decryption phase. However, a proxy does not provide the same high level of security, and therefore it is often used for simple tasks such as accessing blocked sites or anonymizing traffic for one specific service or application. Due to the need to encrypt traffic, a VPN can be slower, especially if you connect to remote servers or use heavy encryption protocols. However, many modern VPN services have optimized their technology to provide fast connections even when encrypting traffic, and modern servers can have little to no effect on your surfing speed.
What is the difference in terms of bypassing blocking?
Proxy servers are often used to bypass various geo-restrictions or content filtering, for example, to access streaming platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, or other sites that may restrict access depending on your location. However, some services actively block traffic coming through proxy servers, especially if they detect a large flow or use public IP addresses. A VPN also allows you to bypass geo-blocking, but it does so more effectively because its traffic is encrypted and harder to detect. Many streaming services and websites are now actively fighting VPNs by trying to block major VPN services, but good paid VPN services are constantly updating their IP addresses and using new methods to bypass blocking. Although VPNs and proxies have some similarities, they serve different purposes.
